


The Places Keith Isn't

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aromantic Asexual Pidge | Katie Holt, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), because I'm making this up in the spot my dudes, gay idiots, ill add more tags as I go, lance wants this to be OVER
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-06-21
Packaged: 2018-11-15 18:40:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11236896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Lance has many mental lists. His most recent one is of all the places Keith is prominent.So he can avoid them of course.





	1. Not Lance's Room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- first fic, I apologise in advance
> 
> -gay messes are my favourite messes

Lance stared at the wall. It was a really great wall he thought. It was a barrier in between him and Keith. It kept Lance away from Keith, he was safe in his small room that had nothing to do with Keith. He didn't want his room to have anything to do with Keith. It was the only place that didn't. Lance couldn't even go into the training room without being overwhelmed by a general feeling of Keith-ness. He was always in there, constantly training and trying to beat every single robot the castle could throw at him. Maybe that was the aim; beat every single robot the castle could create, go further than the levels offered. Knowing him it would be, the try hard. So the training room was out of bounds for Lance.

The hangar for the lions wasn't exactly the best either. Sure, there was Blue and just being in her presence drowned out any thought of Keith but right next to her was Red. Red who emitted the feeling of Keith; hotheaded and impulsive. 

Like fire. 

People get burnt when they play with fire. So stay away from Keith.  
His mother had always said "if someone told you to put your hand in a fire, would you? Would he? Would he burn himself just so he could stay near Keith that little bit longer? 

The hangar wasn't exactly Keith proof then. 

Kitchen; everyone was always there, that meant Keith as well.

Healing pod? Kinda, but well, whenever he thought of there he either got the memory of being locked in or if Keith's disgruntled face when he had flirted with Allura. So not really.

Airlock? First off, Lance wasn't ever going to go within 30 feet of those fucking things for as long as he was alive. It was one thing to be stuck in a cryopod but it was another to be put in a airlock that was literally inches from launching him into space. Of course Keith had saved him, of course he had.

The elevator. ABSOLUTELY NOT. He never needed to go through those moments again where it felt like his heart was going to leap out of his throat.

Where ever the hell their 'bonding moment' had happened wasn't safe either. Though, if Lance couldn't remember the place, he wouldn't remember Keith there either. So maybe it was safe.

Everywhere else should be generally Keith free. Especially here.  
Now though, with the sheer amount of time Lance spent thinking about Keith and all the places he wasn't, was his room even one of them now?

Well shit.

Maybe he should just stay in his room. He didn't have anything else to do because apparently all he did was daydream about Keith. 

Keith with his stupid mullet, and stupid training, and impulses. Stupid alien Keith. That wasn't true. Though he would never let Keith know, Lance secretly thought it was really cool that he was an alien. He'd also never let any one know that he might have a crush on Keith. That's why he was always making the mental lists of where Keith didn't go so he could stay there and prevent this *thing* from getting out of hand. He didn't have a crush on him. Nope, no way. Behind that wall was not a person he was attracted to. He was not attracted to boys who ran with their spontaneous decisions, who was one of the best pilots Lance had ever seen, who, when they laughed at his jokes, those rare beautiful things, felt like a fire had been lit in Lance's chest. 

There it was again. Fire.

He was going to get burnt one of these days. Lance knew that. He didn't think he cared all that much.

Well, this whole get over your dumb crush on Keith thing was going swimmingly wasn't it?

He thumped his head against the wall barricading him away from the galra boy. It hurt. Probably not as much as the soul crushing knowledge that Keith doesn't like him, doesn't trust Lance as far as he can throw him. Keith probably couldn't throw anyone. So what was the point? 

He hit his head again. This course of action had few outcomes.  
1) he passes out and forgets everything about Keith. (Most preferable)  
2) he just really hurts his head (most likely)  
3) he grew the fuck up and just told Keith, damn the consequences. (Unlikely)

"What the hell are you doing?"  
There was a fourth, unseen, option; Keith hears Lance trying to concuss himself and checks it out. A.K.A Keith comes into Lances room and the list in his mind is crumpled up and shredded. Lance's room was no longer Keith free.

"Are you trying to concuss yourself?" Keith's words were more curious than concerned, and there was also annoyance. Lance wished there wasn't but what was to be expected? A sudden outburst of caring towards the blue paladin? Lance didn't. "Well?" Keith prompted, leaning against the door frame.

Lance kept his head resting against the wall. "Oh this? This is just my regular exercise for the day." He lifted his head and resisted the urge to rub his head. There was definitely going to be a bruise there the next morning. "Really clears the head!" He exclaimed and giggled a little at his own, inside joke. God how he wished he was better at lying on the spot. How he wished Keith wasn't in his room, and his head wasn't throbbing this badly. He was going to ignore the fact he could hear his heartbeat. Though he wished that would stop too.

Keith simply raised an eyebrow. "Right..." he trailed off. He glanced to the  
corridor. "Are you done 'exercising' yet?" He put air quotes around the word, just to make sure there was absolutely no way he believed Lance. 

He hit his head again, just to spite Keith. "Yep! That's me done." He clapped his hands together. "Was that all?" Just ignore the steadily growing lump in your throat Lance (and your head for that matter). Pretend as if you don't have a crush on the boy in front of you and everything will be great.

"Yeah..." he paused, like he would say something after. "Yeah." He shut the door and walked away. 

Lance stared at the wall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -hope you like it
> 
> -at any point during this shitstorm, feel free to correct me on anything. I have a terrible habit of fuck off editing
> 
> -hmu on tumblr; Newhieghts


	2. Not The Corridor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance leaves his room, but he doesn't get very far.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -thank you so much for the response!!! 24hrs and over 100 hits!! Thank you!

Normally, when Lance wanted to scream at something, he'd go to the beach. He'd lose himself in the rhythm of the waves and the squawk of seagulls up above. He wanted to be there. He wanted to walk the pier, ice cream running down his hand and the other hand clasped around his little sister's.  
He closed his eyes and lay back on his bed. He could see children running after each other, their shrieks of laughter swirling in the air. He could taste the salt on his tongue and feel the sting of it in his eyes. He could almost feel the heat of the sand on the soles of his feet as he took off running. He ran and he ran, until he met the sea. The sea, that was so cold in contrast to the blazing sun he almost screamed. He didn't though, he never did because he knew the waves. He knew how they curled over and broke. He knew the bubbles of the foam that pooled around his ankles. He could taste salt as he dived in, barely leaving a splash behind him. He could feel the salt sting his eyes.

Maybe the sting of salt were the tears that had formed in his eyes. Maybe. Maybe not. No matter what the sting was, tears were in his eyes. He sniffed, then sighed. Lance wiped them away with the back of his hand. He couldn't remember the last time he cried. He didn't cry the first night in the castle, he was far too giddy to even sleep, let alone think of his family.

His family would be worried sick. He had been gone so long. Not one peep from him, because he had just disappeared into the night at the Garrison. It wasn't exactly something you could write in a letter.  
"Hey Mama, Papa! Just so you know, I'm not dead! No, I'm actually fighting this guy called Zarkon! Yeah, he's super evil and trying to take over the Universe. We defend the Universe in a super awesome fighting robot made of 5 small lions. I pilot the blue one! Yep, I am actually a pilot! Unbelievable, I know" he said the last sentence bitterly, memories of the Garrison flitting through his mind. He was a pilot. He was a good pilot. It didn't matter what ever anyone else thought.

Keith was a better pilot though.

Shut up Lance. Just... Stop.

He got up. He was going somewhere. Didn't know where. Just away from his room, because once again he couldn't get the boy next door out of his head. He tapped his leg absently as he opened the door. 

Keith was leaning on the wall next to the door. So he was the boy directly in front of Lance's room now. He was also the boy who was everywhere.

"Hey," Lance waved half heartedly, not in the mood to start bickering with Keith. If he ignored him he might get called out, if he shot a comment about how he was outside his room he might as well be asking for an argument.

Keith jumped slightly, "Wh-w-" he stuttered, eyes wider than usual. "Have you been crying?" Keith leaned far closer than it was necessary to look at his eyes. "You have, haven't you?"

Lance was frozen to the spot momentarily. How had he picked up on it so quickly? How had he noticed that Lance wasn't completely dry eyed? He hadn't wiped them away well enough he concluded. "Nope!" He sang, popping the 'p'. Yet again, his inability to lie about, well anything was sending him straight to his demise. He really needed to practice lying. Especially to Keith, because one of these days the roles would be reversed and he'd act impulsively. 

Keith simply raised an eyebrow. How were someone's eyes so violet? 

Lance sighed, defeated. "Fine! Yes, I was!" I rolled his eyes. He looked down at his arm, "could you let go of me now?" He hadn't even realised that Keith had grabbed his wrist. "Keith?" 

Keith wasn't responding. His grip on Lance had lessened since he had asked but his fingers were still curled around the brown skin of his wrist, sending volts of electricity down his arm where his skin touched him and not the leather of his gloves. He was staring at Lance. Quite intensely, Lance noted. He had never seen Keith so fixated on something before, unless he was training. But when he was training his eyes darted about, looking for his attacker. He resisted the urge to shake his head; when had he paid such close attention to Keith? There was plenty of time to do that now though.

"Keith?" Lance repeated, tapping his hand. "Keith, let go." He tried to pull himself away, somewhat reluctantly. To Lance's surprise, Keith jolted out of his weird trance like state and yanked his hand away. He shook it. Then he wiped it against his leg. 

"Sorry," he muttered. "That was weird." He looked back at Lance, standing there confused. "Uh, see you." He spun on his heel and made his way back to his room. Lance took a few steps after him, wanting to say something, anything. He wanted to know why Keith had acted like that, or why he was outside his room. Was he going to say something earlier before he walked out? Lance had so many questions and so few answers. He opened his mouth to try and formulate a question but before he knew it, Keith had disappeared inside his room and the door had slid shut.

He wanted to scream. Why was nothing helping? Why didn't he have answers? He wanted to scream so badly, so he tried to go to the beach. He tried so hard to envision the waves along the shoreline, he really, truly did. He tried to imagine the sky at sunset and late night swims.

So why, no matter how hard he tries, why can't Lance get the colour purple out of his head? Violet with midnight blue mixed in, a colour so beautiful he knew he couldn't make it up even with all his dreaming. It was a sunset he thought, or a starry moonlit night.

So why, no matter how hard he tries, why can't Lance stop seeing Keith's eyes and the exact same colour?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- hope you like it!
> 
> -I'll try to update daily if I can
> 
> \- tumblr; newhieghts


	3. Almost in the Lounge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remember that video game form the space mall? And the bonding moments? Yeah, they're back.

He continued his way to wherever. He shoved any and all thoughts of Keith into the very back of his mind, locking it up so he didn't ever think of Keith. Hah, yeah right. Well at least not for the rest of the day. He didn't have time to pity himself over how Keith didn't like him, didn't have time to question Keith's actions. So he locked them away and walked.

He didn't have to walk very far before he saw Pidge skid down a corner and keep on running. Whatever they were doing, they were determined about it. They had wires wrapped around their wrist, and had to jump every so often so they didn't trip. 

"Hey Lance!" They called, barely breaking pace. 

"Yo, Pidge-podge! Where're you going?" He called, following them quickly. At the rate Pidge was running and the speed Lance had to follow at, he'd soon find out where they were off. 

She whipped her head around quickly, and told him "We're gonna try set up the video game! You wanna come?" They jumped over a wire that had slipped and pulled it back up to where it was originally. For the first time, Pidge had stopped. Whether to wait for Lance, catch their breath or to sort out the falling equipment, or a combination, Lance didn't know. But at least it gave him ample time to jog to Pidge's side. 

"The game we got at the space mall?" He rested against Pidge who shot a somewhat annoyed glance at their friend. They wrapped another wire around their arm, and shifted a heavy looking box in their hands. The game console, Lance read upside down. 

Pidge nodded. "The very same." They shoved the box into Lance's arms, "I'm too short for this shit. Tiny, tiny arms," they cursed, pushing the box further into Lance's arms to make sure it was balanced. "Let's go!" They exclaimed, eyes lit brightly. 

Lance followed Pidge's quick steps into the lounge. Hunk was sitting by some weird holographic (what Lance supposed was) Altean technology, resembling a screen. Pidge essentially threw the equipment they were holding at Hunk's feet. Hunk jumped at the loud and scattered clatters and hit his head on a small table. 

"Ow!" He rubbed his head and brought his gaze up to meet Pidge's smug face. "Did you have to do that?" He frowned slightly, and started to dig through the equipment. "Hey Lance."

Lance murmured a hello back, glad they were finally setting this thing up.

Pidge sighed dramatically, "you sent me to get all this stuff alone, and my poor tired arms are just so tired I couldn't bear to hold it any longer." They held a hand to their forehead. Lance blamed Matt for her sarcastic theatrics.

"Sorry, Pidge. I was setting this up - which y'know, I've done." He poked Pidge in their skinny leg. "Hey, pass me some of those blue wires." Lance dropped a handful into Hunk's out stretched hand. Pidge was in the corner fiddling with some batteries and wires. Knowing Pidge, they were building their own computer.

It turned out not to be a computer but a device in which Pidge could zap people at their own will. Which was great fun! Especially for Lance who was on the receiving end of it for the most part. He retailed by throwing countless amount of pillows in their general direction. There might be some kind of mark on some of the pillows that Pidge had zapped. Eventually though, they were able to set up the game, mostly (all) to do with Hunk.

They all lost track of how long they had spent staring at the screen. Their eyes only left the screen when people moved through the room. First it had been Coran, interested about what the game was and other earth games. Then it was Allura who was a little more than freaked out by how Pidge zoned out. Finally, it was Keith who came in.

"Since when have we had a game?" Pidge didn't flinch. Lance tensed slightly, acutely aware of Keith's presence. Hunk was the only one to really acknowledge Keith's existence by turning around and answering;

"Since... I don't know. Guys, how long have we been playing?" He turned to Pidge but it was useless. Lance piped up, eyes still locked on the screen. 

"No idea." He shrugged, "couple of hours?" He offered. He forced himself to turn around, Keith was staring at the screen. He added to the list of things Keith does; stare a lot. 

Lance wasn't going to think of Keith. He was going to concentrate on the video game in front of him, and on kicking Pidge's ass. He mashed the buttons furiously, determined to take the lead from Pidge's long rein. He started to win. Holy shit, he was actually beating Pidge. Pidge; master champion at anything tech. 

"What the fuck?" They muttered, "what kinda voodoo nonsense?" They mashed furiously but to no avail. Lance had snatched victory. "REMATCH!" They demanded. They looked to Lance impressed, "when did you learn to play like that?"

Lance leaned against the sofa and stretched out his hands, interlocked fingers clicking as they were stretched "You know me, I have my ways."

"Yeah but," Keith said, pointing to the screen, "you took that back in like 3 seconds." He looked to the controller "were you cheating?"

"Lance doesn't have the skill to cheat in front of me!" Pidge exclaimed, leaning close into Lance. "He's tried, he's obvious!" 

"So it was just insane?"

"Yep!" Lance smirked at Pidge, earning a scowl, "all talent."

Hunk piped up, "how about we do tag teaming?" He suggested, "Lance and Keith, me and Pidge?" Keith glanced over to Lance. "So like, when the other on our team dies we swap over with our partner and go like that until one team wins?" He waved his hands about as he spoke, thing to explain his scheme.

"I get how that would work." Pidge pulled back from being uncomfortably close to Lance. "Yeah, then I can beat Lance!" 

"Woah, woah, woah! Why are you two together and I'm stuck with Keith?" Lance protested, "why can't I be with Hunk?" He pointed at his best friend.

Pidge stuck her tongue out at Lance, "I love Hunk the most!" They claimed. "He is the best!" They threw themselves around Hunk, who just watched the whole thing in awe. Lance knew there was no removing Pidge. They had made up their mind and being the stubborn little git they were, they wouldn't budge if you gave them a million dollars. Lance sighed in resignation.

"I guess it's you and me Keith."

Pidge cackled in delight. Hunk apologised on behalf of Pidge and Keith? Keith just sat down next to Lance, though Lance didn't even know if you could call it 'next', when Keith was practically leaning away. Perfect. 

Two minutes later, everyone was screaming. 

"C'mon Keith! NO, DON'T DO THAT!"

"YOU'RE GOING DOWN LANCE!" 

"I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS PIDGE!"

"GO! GO! GO!" 

It was a beautiful kind of chaos.

Keith and Pidge were neck a neck and moving closer to the finish. This was it. This was the decider. Pidge narrowed their eyes and mashed even faster. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" Pidge exclaimed as they dodged an obstacle. "Yeah!" They were gonna win. They were inches from the finish. Keith was lagging behind, pressing buttons furiously. 

"No!" Came a cry of dismay from Pidge as they were killed. "HUNK!" They yelled, thrusting the controller at him. Hunk, however, had been daydreaming about something and Pidge's defeat had gone unnoticed. 

"What?"

"NO!"

Keith and Lance cheered in victory. Pidge groaned loudly. Hunk laughed. "Whoop! Haha! In your face Pidge!" Lance laughed joyfully.

"We did it!" Keith seemed almost surprised at their victory "we won!"

Lance high fived Keith. "Yeah," he beamed, eyes shining, "we do make a good team, don't we?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuck editing


	4. A Crown of Wires

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge is an entity of pure salt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- bit short
> 
> -not much Keith

Keith and had been gone for a while now, mumbling something about being tired. Pidge had started to make something new out of the jumble of wires and Lance could only hope it wasn't as dangerous as their previous contraption. It was kind of extraordinary to watch Pidge at work. They way their hands moved, so nimble and light, eyes darting to spare parts to combine with what looked like a mass of wires but was something really freakin cool. 

"Whatcha making Pidgeotto?" Lance always seemed to have a new name for Pidge at every moment. Sometimes Pidgey, then Pidge-Podge, or just P, now it was their evolved form from Pidgey. 

Pidge shot a glare at Lance, still salty from their defeat. "Wouldn't you like to know" it didn't look like they were making something like they normally did; they were more like weaving the wires together.

"I would actually, that's why I asked my tiny friend." 

"Have you ever actually called Pidge by their name? Y'know, Pidge?" Hunk piped up. "Not judging, just curious," he added.

"Have I?"

"Nope."

Pidge placed a contraption on their head. Lance, legitimately terrified for a second, thought that they were about to invent mind control. (That wasn't far away with Pidge) it turned out much simpler, much to Lance's relief, that it was a crown constructed of knotted wires. 

"Did you make a crown of wires to spite me?" Lance chuckled. "I mean, it's awesome but a little extra." 

Pidge, for the second time that night, stuck their tongue out at him. Pidge was fun. Salty and immature but fun. "Who's the real winner here Lance?" She adjusted her crown and smiled.

Lance pressed a hand to his chest. "Me, Pidgey, me. I won." 

"And Keith," Hunk added, "Pidge, you're gonna ruin those wires."

"Maybe so," they said, "but I look fabulous." Pidge sighed. "Yes, and Keith."

Lance smiled inwardly at the thought of their victory. It was nice to finally have something in common with Keith, even if it was just a shared victory. The way Keith's face had lit up, and the way his eyes shined, had made his heart pound against his rib cage. He didn't know why, it was only a smile but Lance couldn't help but feel proud that he was part of the reason for the smile.

"Stop smiling! You can't smile and be so oblivious!" Pidge exclaimed, hair falling in their eyes. "Hunk, tell him!" She looked to Hunk in desperation. 

Hunk laughed and shook his head, "I dunno dude, we said not to bring it up."

Lance watched the words spill form Hunk's mouth in amazement. They had been talking about this? They had been talking about Lance and Keith and how 'oblivious' they were. Oblivious on what matter? Was it obvious that Lance liked Keith like that? Oh man, what if it was? 

What could go wrong?

1) he's teased relentlessly for it (though Pidge exists solely for teasing him Lance sometimes thinks)

2) Keith miraculously likes him back (ha)

3) He- his list making was rudely interrupted by Pidge's voice cutting through his thoughts. 

"Yes Hunk, it was a fun game. No matter how badly I should've won." Pidge rolled her eyes and made a face at Lance. "Jesus Hunk, it was a fun game, I'm just an entity of salt."

Hunk laughed good heartedly, "yeah, I've known you long enough."

Lance couldn't help but think how he hadn't known Keith that long at all. A few months? Less? More? How quickly did it take to develop a crush? How was he going to avoid Keith until this thing went away? 

Deep down in his heart he didn't think it would go away unless he did something. 

He muttered something about being tired from the playing for so long and headed back to his room. When he had uttered the words he had just wanted an excuse to be alone with his thoughts. Now though, since the door had slid shut he realised how deathly tired he really was. He flopped down on his bed and fell asleep within minutes. He was glad of the how quickly he was dragged into the clutches of sleep because he would've thought about things he didn't want to think about. 

He slept without so much as a thought of Keith.

The next day couldn't have been the same could it?

He walked out the door and started to make his way to the kitchen, hungry after realising he hadn't eaten much since the game had been set up. He passed Keith as he walked into a room he didn't bother to register. He smiled slightly and gave a two fingered salute towards the boy. 

Then it took a hell of a turn.


	5. Where the fuck is this?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> GAY

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -final chapter!!!
> 
> \- ha gay
> 
> \- props to Reya for checking my shit, love ya

Keith grabbed Lance as he stepped into a room. Literally grabbed him, by the hem of his t shirt and dragged him into a smaller, adjoining room.  
"What the fuck Keith?"   
Lance was shushed by Keith and he watched in confusion as Keith put his ear to the door of the small room, practically a cupboard. Keith grinned mischievously and pulled back. He motioned for Lance to do the same. Lance, confused and flustered by being in such close proximity to Keith, didn't see any reason to disobey. He pressed his ear to the cold metal, a devastating contrast to the heat of his flushed face. From the angle they were both listening, they were mere inches away from each other, at perfect eye level. 

From the other side of the door Lance could hear footsteps and voices. 

"Keith? Where are you? We're all training as a team."

"Paladins! Come to the training room!"

"Hey, has anyone seen Lance, I can't find him."

He guessed that the voice looking for Keith was Shiro, the second Allura and the last sounded a lot like Hunk. 

He gave a pointed look towards Keith, questioning why he had looked the two of them into a tiny place when everyone else was looking for them. I mean, Lance wasn't complaining about it, but he was curious. He added this cupboard-y place to his mental list of all the places Keith was. 

Keith giggled a little and a flame lit up in Lance's chest. He was having a serious thought about the fact that Keith's laugh was the most beautiful thing ever. It wasn't even conventionally pretty, but it was Keith's. His eyes unconsciously flitted to his lips as he laughed. 

Stop.

The most you've done with Keith is win a game against Pidge and Hunk and they high fived. He had smiled at him. Not even at him, at the fact they had won. He should bury this dumb notion and continue with his life. Ignore the game and the smile and this cupboard, forget about it like he had done with that moment Keith swears by. 

"I don't wanna train today, I'm not in the mood," he smiled, god he was such a child at heart. 

"You are constantly training." Lance pointed out. "Why is this different?"

Keith rolled his eyes, "shut up Lance." But it wasn't said with malice. That was new, nice even. "I just don't wanna. Didn't want to spend it alone either."

Lance smirked, "so you chose me?" He nudged him, not needing to move very much in the cramped space. "Aw, how sweet."

"Yes I chose you, you were closest." Keith grumbled. "Not because of anything else..." he trailed off. He bit his lip. Aaaand Lance glanced down again, course he did. Of course he did. 

Low key wanted to kiss Keith with all his childish antics. Keith with his giggly laugh and whoops of delight, Keith who told him to shut up fondly.

Maybe it was more high key than low key. 

He high key wanted to kiss Keith and to hold him close and to make him laugh. He desperately wanted to hold Keith's gloved hand and to have late night talks with him. He wanted to lose track of time and stay with Keith forever.

Wow. That was sappy.

Keith was still worrying his lip. It didn't slip past Lance's notice that Keith's eyes kept slipping towards Lance. Proabaly making sure he wasn't falling asleep.

Or not. There was a voice in the back of Lance's head. A tiny, niggling feeling that maybe, he was glancing at him because Keith liked him too. That wasn't too insane, was it?

It probably was, though it didn't stop Lance from endorsing it.

What had Pidge said anyway, not too long after the game? "and be so oblivious." He muttered under his breath. He hadn't got it at the time. He barely got it now. It could be referring about his crush on Keith. He knew he couldn't hide anything from Pidge or Hunk, they both knew him way too well for that. 

So maybe it wasn't as insane as he thought. If Keith could see what was going on inside his head he'd probably faint. Just at the fact that Lance had a crush on him. Lance felt like he was going to faint in this place; it was hot and stuffy, too small for one person, let alone two people. 

"What?" Keith turned to Lance. He had had his ear to the door almost all the time - they must still be out there. They'd give up eventually. 

"Hmm?"

"You said something just then... about, uh... umm..." Keith trailed off and shook his head, "it doesn't matter." His eyes were half lidded, and really he wasn't even trying to be subtle at looking at Lance now. "We are really close together?" He didn't state it, more asked it, like; why were they so god damn close?

Lance stepped into the unknown. "Do you wanna be closer?"  
He regretted the words as soon as they were out in open air. He wanted to grab the words back and never say them. "Ignore that." He blushed a furious red, almost as bright as Keith's jacket.

"Yes." He mumbled quickly. "Yeah"

That was a surprise. So the idea was slowly going from batshit insane to kinda insane to plausible. 

"O-okay" he shuffled closer to Keith, close enough once again to see the violet eyes of Keith. Lance couldn't help himself as his eyes flickered, once again, to Keith's lips.

Why was he torturing himself like this? This wasn't how he wanted his day to go. Why did his eyes gravitate towards Keith? Why didn't he just kiss him and live with the consequences.

He made a list in his head.

How kissing Keith in this tiny room would go.

1) It went well (plausible?)

1 a) Keith kissed him back

1 b) it was a good kiss but Keith didn't kiss him back (not that great actually)

2) IT went badly (most likely)

2 a) he missed

2 b) Keith didn't ki- you know what? Fuck it. Fuck the lists, fuck what might go wrong and might go right and live in the goddamn moment.

So he did. He kissed Keith. 

It was gentle. It was Lance trying convey how much he liked Keith without having to say the words. It was a kiss that Lance had no intention of forgetting, no matter how shit it ended. 

He pulled back, so reluctantly. He pulled back because he was scared that Keith didn't want this like he wanted it, because despite not having a list he was allowed to be scared. 

Keith was... shocked to say the least; his eyes were blown wide, body stiff, he had brought a single hand to his lips and touched them gently. 

"Did that just happen?" He asked, "or was that a really good dream?"

"Dream come true?" Lance offered. He looked down to see his hands were shaking. He took a breath, Keith wasn't freaking out so much as Lance was. 

"Yes." 

They both leaned in at the same time to kiss the other again. Needless to say, it went as well as it could go, which was horribly. Their noses bumped and Lance's lips caught barely a corner of Keith's mouth. Lance had a stifle a laugh that threatened to emerge from their situation. Keith however, didn't even try to stifle his and snorted. 

The flame got bigger. So maybe he was going to get burnt. Maybe he didn't care. Maybe he wanted to get burnt, and stay close to Keith. Actually, there was no maybe about it. 

Keith cupped his hands around Lance's cheeks and kissed him gently. His lips were probably the furthest thing from soft; they were chapped and bitten, not soft. Lance preferred it. He preferred everything about Keith to anything else.

"Love is like a friendship caught on fire." Lance didn't know when he had heard the words but he thought they suited this moment well. 

"Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep burning and unquenchable." 

Maybe it was. He looked at Keith. He was going to find out.

So maybe it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- quote is from Bruce Lee

**Author's Note:**

> \- hmu, newhieghts on tumblr
> 
> \- none of this is edited because I'm lazy, apologies.


End file.
